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 Post subject: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 7:28 pm 
Cockatiel
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I know there is a similar thread in general talk, but I think mine is a bit different and more of a training problem.
The spring is coming and I really would love to take my birds out in the cage. But life proved that it's nearly impossible at this time to get them in the cage relatively quickly. When I had two birds, it was rather easy. Now I have 10.
Before bedtime, when they are a little bit sleepy, I just pick up new babies, and 3 of the older babies and take them to cages. The father and one of the older kids like to get into cage by themselves when they realize other birds are inside sleeping and they have nothing else to do. Cuddles, the mom, is a pain in the butt, but eventually I get her in after some chase.
During the day it's a very different story. They are awake, alert, and not easy to get. Some of them step up on my hand but it doesn't mean I can do whatever I want with them after they are on my hand. If they suspect any foul play from my side, they take off.
We already had good weather in the past, when I managed to get some birds in the cage and get them out but remaining birds behaved like something scary was going on. I don't want them to associate outdoor time with bad experience. I wanted to roll the big cage out with all the birds inside.
I have read some advise in this section, and I would have no problems to apply them to one or two birds. But when they are 10, everything gets much more complicated.
Anyway, the problem - to get 10 birds in the cage at day time without spending a few hours and scaring them to death. One thing to try would probably be to take away all the food and then put in in the cage so they would get in to eat, but I can't guarantee all ten would do this at the same time. Also, we try to get little kids eating as much as possible so I don't think taking food away would be a good idea.
By the way, today we had a surprise. At about 8pm, I saw that all big birds were inside their cage and only new babies were on top of the same cage eating. I put food everywhere. Locking them up was easy!



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 Post subject: Re: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 3:09 pm 
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Name: Carolyn
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Rounding up chicks can be difficult because they'd rather not go in. There isn't an easy solution to the problem. I always put the easiest birds away first and close the cage door enough that they aren't likely to come back out again, then chase the remaining stubborn ones until they decide to cooperate. Your youngest chicks will benefit from staying full flighted for a while longer, but if you clip the others at least a little bit they will get tired faster and it will be easier to put them away. At times when you're not in a hurry you can work on teaching them to cooperate with the process using food bribery.



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 Post subject: Re: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 7:54 pm 
Cockatiel
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Thanks. This are bad news :(
I thought what if I don't give them millets at all but hang it inside the cage and see if millets would bring them in sometimes during the day.
Where do I go to clip wings? I don't think I can do it myself. I thought to teach them to cooperate rather than make them tired and grab them.



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 Post subject: Re: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 7:30 am 
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You can check with local pet shops to see if any of them do bird grooming. Vets will do it too but it's not cheap. If there's a pet bird club in your area they might be a good resource.

You can use food bribery to help teach cooperation, but any time the bird is more interested in freedom than in food it will be a problem.



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 Post subject: Re: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:58 pm 
Lovebird
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"Tiring them out" has been working for me. I don't have to grab them. I just keep insisting that they step up, chase them from place to place, and eventually they either go in on their own (Piper & Emma) or allow me to put them in (Silver).
iIt takes several minutes.



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 Post subject: Re: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 5:22 pm 
Cockatiel
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today I didn't give them millets where they eat but hang it up inside the cage. They totally didn't want to notice it - that's how much they ignore their cages! :)

Dianne, I am not sure If your suggestion would work with all of them. But eventually I will try to get inside whoever I can very soon. We are having 70 F sunny days! I hate when they miss all the sun. My house is rather dark and I hate it!



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 Post subject: Re: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 6:16 pm 
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If you keep insisting that they step up and go in the cage, they will eventually learn that they may as well do what you want in the beginning because you aren't going to give up until you get what you want. It can be a long tedious process to get to that point however, and there will still be occasions when a bird simply doesn't want to cooperate.



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 Post subject: Re: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 7:04 am 
Cockatiel
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actually yesterday 8 of them went out in the cage. Which means I got 8 of them in! Can't believe I did it! (but today I am not very enthusiastic to do the same LOL)
I think what helped is that they were settling for the nap (but none of them was sleeping). Again, it's not a very good idea to be disturbing their rest time, especially for the babies, who are getting 8 weeks old.



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 Post subject: Re: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 4:15 pm 
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At night time it can be very helpful to dim the lights or turn them off so the birds get sleepy. Then turn the lights back on if you need to and round them up before they wake up completely!



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 Post subject: Re: Getting them in the cage
PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 7:48 pm 
Cockatiel
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thanks. Actually, we almost never have a problem at night. They seem to be glad to be taken to cages, and some get inside the cage by themselves. Cuddles is the most stubborn one, but even she figured out that getting inside the cage on her own would save her from my chase. For the last two days she finally lands on the cage and climbs in. I just wish she could do the whole thing faster but I am sure she will improve.
I just need to mention that even despite of being sleepy, Stella would never allow me to grab her. She also bites hard if I attempt to grab her. Her reaction is very very fast. She is the only tiel in my house who never allowed me to catch her (handfeeding doesn't count)



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